Ohtani deals a gem, the offense hands him nothing, and the Dodgers drop one to Houston. Welcome to Dodgers Daily — I'm Devin, Cassidy's here, and I am already annoyed, and it's barely May. We've got the bats going cold behind Ohtani, Mookie creeping toward a return, and a bullpen move brewing down in OKC — let's get into it. The guy is out there doing both jobs, and the lineup can't scrape together a run. Unacceptable. Easy. Mookie's coming back, the roster isn't whole yet. This is still a very good team missing pieces. Tell that to Shohei. Bill Plunkett, writing in Orange County Register:
With Ohtani limited to pitching, the Dodgers’ lineup was held to six hits without him – half of them from Andy Pages – in a 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros. Ohtani has not hit during his last two pitching starts – last week at home against the Miami Marlins and Tuesday in Houston.
That little relief from the last episode didn't last long — the bats went quiet again and wasted Ohtani's night in Houston. Six hits, two runs across his last two pitching starts, and Andy Pages had half of them. Andy Pages. Shohei is out there dealing, and the lineup is just... standing around with their hands in their pockets. One run while he's in the game over his last three starts. That is costing us games. To be fair, Ohtani's hitless in 17 at-bats on his off days. He basically volunteered to just pitch. The whole lineup's in a funk together. r/baseball (72 upvotes), weighing in:
With offense getting into 4 DPs in 5 innings, Roki's not bad outing is the least of the Dodgers' issues right now.
Four double plays in five innings. Four. That's not a slump, that's performance art. From r/baseball (85 upvotes):
We also lead the league in losses. 1st place! 🥇
Leading the league in losses while sitting in first place — look, this division is a mess, and I'm not panicking in May. Ask me again in August. That emoji is doing a lot of work, and I don't love it. Over on r/baseball (234 upvotes):
Dodgers continue to struggle offensively? You're kidding me.
Yes, the Dodgers struggling offensively — I know it sounds insane, but here we are, and I need it to stop immediately. People saying 'you're kidding me' like this team hasn't had cold stretches before. They'll drop twelve runs tomorrow and everyone will act like this never happened. Jack Harris, writing in Yahoo Sports:
In case anyone forgot, the challenge of a full-time two-way role — even for Ohtani and his near-superhuman capabilities — is not for the faint of body, mind or heart. The four-time MVP has done this all before, of course, largely excelling in both his pitching and hitting duties over three seasons with the Angels from 2021–2023, as well as in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery at the end of last year with the Dodgers.
Shohei Ohtani is in a zero-for-fourteen slump at the plate, and he's handling it the way Shohei Ohtani handles everything — three hours of early work, batting practice, bullpen session, then a full game. The man is Pitcher of the Month and people are treating this like a crisis. I'm not gonna lie, the zero-for-fourteen got in my head a little. ואז I remembered he's been unhittable on the mound and I felt better. Mostly. He's doing the two-way thing for real this time, all season long, and the fact that the bat's lagging while the arm is elite is not a scandal. It's called being human — barely, in his case. Here's one from r/baseball (522 upvotes):
Might as well stop the bleeding and trade Ohtani. Obviously the Dodgers can’t win when he’s on the mound.
Trade Ohtani. Trade Ohtani. Someone actually typed that and hit post. I need whoever wrote it to stay far away from any front office, ever. This is exactly what I mean about fans panicking. A two-week slump from a guy who just won Pitcher of the Month, and somebody's ready to blow up the roster. Here's one from r/baseball (962 upvotes):
Ah yes, the 2 best Dodgers pitchers up here as expected, Shohei Ohtani and wait what
Yeah, the rest of that rotation has been doing some things. Quietly a really good Dodgers pitching staff this year, and nobody's talking about it. r/baseball (338 upvotes), weighing in:
Every time I see a stat like this, it just makes me laugh about Jacob deGrom again. Baseball is such a weird game. For anyone who doesn't know, in 2018, Jacob deGrom had a 1.70 ERA in 217 innings. The Mets went 14-18 in his starts. In 2019, he had a 2.43 ERA over 204 innings. The Mets once again went 14-18 in his starts. In both years, the Mets were somehow had a better winning percentage in the games deGrom didn't start.
The deGrom Mets years are the right cautionary tale here. Elite pitching doesn't guarantee wins, and a hitting slump doesn't sink a rotation. Baseball's weird, the sample size is long, relax. Those Mets teams were a crime against baseball. At least Ohtani's doing it behind a lineup that can actually score — big difference. True Blue LA writes:
Triple-A Oklahoma City has been a busy place for Dodgers on the mend for the past few weeks, with rehab assignments piling up over the last few days. Utility man Kiké Hernández is the latest to work his way back with the Comets, starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday night.
Kiké Hernández is officially rehabbing with Triple-A Oklahoma City — started Tuesday night, played five innings at third, went two-for-three with a double. Earliest he's back with the big club is May 24th. And apparently this is the first time he's felt fully healthy in about a year — the guy had elbow surgery in November after missing chunks of last season too. So whenever he does show up, we might actually be getting a real Kiké, not the broken version. Oklahoma City's basically a Dodgers MASH unit right now — Blake Snell's been down there too. The depth on this roster is doing real work while the cavalry gets healthy. Here's Rodney Knuppel at Sporting News:
Betts is scheduled to face live pitching Thursday, a critical checkpoint in any hitter’s recovery process. If that session goes well, Roberts indicated a rehab assignment could begin shortly after. That matters because live pitching is often the final real test. It is where timing, reaction, and confidence all come back into play.
Mookie Betts is set to face live pitching Thursday — Dave Roberts says a rehab assignment could follow shortly after if that goes well. Twenty-six games missed with the oblique, and the Dodgers are still 21 and 13. That's the floor of this roster. I need him back yesterday. Yes, 21-13 is fine, but 'fine' is not what I signed up for watching this lineup. Mookie at the top of the order is a completely different offense. They're winning without him, Devin. That's not a crisis, that's depth. McCourt-era Dodgers lose eight in a row the second a starter sneezes. r/Dodgers (55 upvotes), weighing in:
I don't want to say anyone is underachieving 30 days in, I think the next 30 days will say a lot. I think Tucker is finding his groove now and things will start to get sexy again. Mookie should be back soon, Snell is ramping up, things will get better and everyone will click then it will go back to the Dodgers are ruining baseball.
This fan gets it. Mookie comes back, Snell ramps up, Tucker finds his groove — and then yeah, every other fanbase starts crying that we're ruining baseball. That's the destination. I'm ready. Thirty days in and people were already doom-posting. Exactly what I mean — this fanbase forgets what bad actually looks like. From r/Dodgers (44 upvotes):
No one is going to say Ohtani with a ridiculous 0.60 ERA and sub-2 FIP?? He allowed one earned run in a 6 inning start and his ERA went UP, do you all know how ridiculous that is?
Shohei Ohtani has a 0.60 ERA as a pitcher and we're out here talking about whether the offense is clicking. The man allowed one run and his ERA went up. That's not baseball, that's a video game on rookie mode. Fair point buried in that thread: Ohtani on the mound right now is legitimately historic. Add Mookie back into the mix and this team gets very uncomfortable to play against. Here's Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:
Brock Stewart rejoined the Dodgers in Houston after his three weeks on a minor league rehab assignment. He did not get activated Monday, after pitching on Sunday for Triple-A Oklahoma City, but will likely end his injured-list stint at some point during this series against the Astros. That means one pitcher will be optioned to the minors to make room on the active roster for Stewart.
Bullpen shuffle time — Brock Stewart is back from his rehab assignment, and somebody's got to make room. The leading candidate to head down is Jake Eder, strictly on last in, first out logic. I mean, Eder's been mopping up blowouts. If your highest-leverage moment is up ten runs, sorry, you're not exactly irreplaceable. Kyle Hurt, though — eleven strikeouts, one walk, eight innings? Don't touch that guy. Hurt's numbers are good, but he's also been pitching in garbage time. The sample is real, the context is less flattering. Stewart's a known quantity — this is a pretty routine transaction. Routine until Díaz is still out and suddenly every arm in that pen matters. I'm not panicking, but I'm watching. If Dodgers Daily is part of your routine, take a moment to subscribe or leave a review wherever you're listening. It really helps other fans find the show, and it helps us keep bringing you the latest every day.
You'll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if something grabbed your attention, take a minute to read more there. That's Dodgers Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.